一种新的磁共振图像处理流水线的设计与实现

磁共振图像的重建、后处理及可视化是磁共振成像（MRI）系统的重要组成部分.本文开发了一个新的用于磁共振图像重建、后处理及可视化的开源框架YAP（Yet Another Pipeline），利用此框架可以方便地构建图像处理流水线.与现有的一些其他开源框架相比，本文开发的框架具有如下特点：（1）采用基于接口的设计，可使用基于接口的插件对流水线的功能进行扩展；（2）允许用户使用编写脚本的方式构建图像处理流水线，编辑与修改流水线都很方便；（3）支持带有分支结构的流水线，便于流水线的构建与调试.目前，该框架已经在商用系统中获得了应用.     

基于级联卷积神经网络的前列腺磁共振图像分类

针对深度学习训练成本高，以及基于磁共振图像的前列腺癌临床诊断需要大量医学常识且极为耗时的问题，本文提出了一种基于级联卷积神经网络（Convolutional Neural Network，CNN）和磁共振图像的前列腺癌（Prostate Cancer，PCa）自动分类诊断方法，该网络以Faster-RCNN作为前网络，对前列腺区域进行提取分割，用于排除前列腺附近组织器官的干扰；以基于ResNet改进的网络结构CNN40_bottleneck作为后网络，用于对前列腺区域病变进行分类.后网络由瓶颈结构串联组成，其中使用批量标准化（Batch Normalization，BN）、全局平均池化（Global Average Pooling，GAP）进行优化.实验结果证明，本文方法对前列腺癌诊断结果较好，而且缩减了训练时间和参数量，有效降低了训练成本.     

Low‐Magnetization Magnetic Microcapsules: A Synergistic Theranostic Platform for Remote Cancer Cells Therapy and Imaging

Multifunctional magnetic microcapsules (MMCs) for the combined cancer cells hyperthermia and chemotherapy in addition to MR imaging are successfully developed. A classical layer‐by‐layer technique of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes (poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(4‐styrene sulfonate sodium) (PSS)) is used as it affords great controllability over the preparation together with enhanced loading of the chemotherapeutic drug (doxorubicin, DOX) in the microcapsules. Superparamagnetic iron oxide (SPIOs) nanoparticles are layered in the system to afford MMC1 (one SPIOs layer) and MMC2 (two SPIOs layers). Most interestingly, MMC1 and MMC2 show efficient hyperthermia cell death and controlled DOX release although their magnetic saturation value falls below 2.5 emu g^?1, which is lower than the 7–22 emu g^?1 reported to be the minimum value needed for biomedical applications. Moreover, MMCs are pH responsive where a pH 5.5 (often reported for cancer cells) combined with hyperthermia increases DOX release predictably. Both systems prove viable when used as T2 contrast agents for MR imaging in HeLa cells with high biocompatibility. Thus, MMCs hold a great promise to be used commercially as a theranostic platform as they are controllably prepared, reproducibly enhanced, and serve as drug delivery, hyperthermia, and MRI contrast agents at the same time.     

An fMRI study of magnitude comparison and exact addition in children

By contrast to the adult literature, in which a consistent parietofrontal network for number processing has been identified, the data from studies of number processing in children have been less consistent, probably due to differences in study design and control conditions. Number processing was examined using functional magnetic resonance imaging in 18 right-handed children (8–12 years) from the Cape Coloured community in Cape Town, South Africa, using Proximity Judgment and Exact Addition (EA) tasks. The findings were consistent with the hypothesis that, as in adults, the anterior horizontal intraparietal sulcus (HIPS) plays a major role in the representation and manipulation of quantity in children. The posterior medial frontal cortex, believed to be involved in performance monitoring in more complex arithmetic manipulations in adults, was extensively activated even for relatively simple symbolic number processing in the children. Other areas activated to a greater degree in the children included the left precentral sulcus, which may mediate number knowledge and, for EA, the head of the caudate nucleus, which is part of a fronto-subcortical circuit involved in the behavioral execution of sequences. Two regions that have been linked to number processing in adults — the angular gyrus and posterior superior parietal lobule — were not activated in the children. The data are consistent with the inference that although the functional specialization of the anterior HIPS may increase as symbolic number processing becomes increasingly automatic, this region and other elements of the parietofrontal network identified in adults are already reliably and robustly activated by middle childhood.     

Off-resonance frequency filtered magnetic resonance imaging

One of the main problems with rapid magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques is the artifacts that result from off-resonance effects. The proposed off-resonance frequency filtered MRI (OFF-MRI) method focuses on the elimination of off-resonance components from the image of the observed object. To maintain imaging speed and simultaneously achieve good frequency selectivity, MRI is divided into two steps: signal acquisition and post-processing.     

Study of brain anatomy with high-field MRI: recent progress

Recent developments in high-field magnetic resonance imaging technology have led to improved contrast and resolution and are opening up new possibilities for the study of human brain anatomy. In particular, techniques sensitized to magnetic susceptibility contrast provide particular advantages at high field that have allowed visualization of brain structures that have been difficult to detect with conventional technology. In this review, some of these developments and techniques will be discussed, and an attempt will be made to interpret magnetic susceptibility contrast based on recent studies.     

Combined prostate diffusion tensor imaging and dynamic contrast enhanced MRI at 3T — quantitative correlation with biopsy

The purpose of this work was to compare diagnostic accuracy of Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE MRI) and their combination in diagnosing prostate cancer. Twenty-five patients with clinical suspicion of prostate cancer underwent MRI, prior to transrectal ultrasound-guided biopsies. MRI data were correlated to biopsy results. Logistic regression models were constructed for the DTI parameters, DCE MRI parameters, and their combination. The areas under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUC) were compared between the models. The nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test was used for statistical analysis. The sensitivity and specificity values were respectively 81% (74–87%) and 85% (79–90%) for DTI and 63% (55–70%) and 90% (85–94%) for DCE. The combination “DTI or DCE MRI” had 100% (97–100%) sensitivity and 77% (69–83%) specificity, while “DTI and DCE MRI” had 44% (37–52%) sensitivity and 98% (94–100%) specificity. The AUC for DTI+DCE parameters was significantly higher than that for either DTI (0.96 vs. 0.92, P=.0143) or DCE MRI parameters (0.96 vs. 0.87, P=.00187) alone. In conclusion, the combination of DTI and DCE MRI has significantly better accuracy in prostate cancer diagnosis than either technique alone.     

Quantification of microporosity in fruit by MRI at various magnetic fields: comparison with X-ray microtomography

Microstructure determines the mechanical and transport properties of fruit tissues. One important characteristic of the microstructure is the relative volume fraction of gas-filled intercellular spaces, i.e., the tissue microporosity. Quantification of this microporosity is fundamental for investigating the relationship between gas transfer and various disorders in fruit.     

MR microscopy of micron scale structures

Magnetic resonance (MR) microscopy of up to 1–5-μm resolutions have been reported previously. The tested phantom structures, however, had widths one order of magnitude bigger than the reported resolutions, e.g., spherical beads or capillary tubes of tens-of-micron diameters or wall thicknesses have been imaged. In this study, we fabricated structures having a few micron widths on a silicon wafer and imaged them using our 1-μm-resolution MR microscopy at 14.1 T. Micron scale width structures were, for the first time, resolved by MR microscopy.